


Sun Wukong and the Beast

by TheHungryStark



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-06
Updated: 2018-11-27
Packaged: 2018-12-24 15:50:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 20,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12015993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheHungryStark/pseuds/TheHungryStark
Summary: Once upon a time, in the kingdom of Menagerie, there lived a princess named Blake Belladonna. She was a fair and beautiful girl, much loved by her parents and the entire kingdom. However, on her fifteenth birthday, tragedy befell the people of Menagerie, when King Ghira and Queen Kali were both killed in a tragic accident, and the princess disappeared, the castle becoming abandoned. Years later, a thief named Sun Wukong elects to hide in the castle, only to find it is not as abandoned as the world believes.....





	1. Chapter 1

Once upon a time, in the Kingdom of Menagerie, there was born a most sweet and innocent princess. Her hair was black like the night sky, her eyes a shining amber and upon her head emerged two small, delicate cat ears. Her parents were cat Faunus of the house Belladonna, a noble and strong house, with a proud lineage. King Ghira Belladonna and Queen Kali were just and fair rulers, much loved by the peasantry, both human and Faunus. Under their rule, the Kingdom experienced an age of peace, strength, unity, and prosperity. They had longed for a son, but upon seeing their daughter, were overjoyed. And so, they named her Blake.

She became the heart and soul of their lives. They doted on her endlessly, teaching her the proper manners for a young princess and the duties and responsibilities of a future queen, providing her with the best tutors, and young Blake grew to be a sweet, gentle and idealistic soul, adored by all the kingdom.

As the years passed, Princess Blake grew in grace and beauty, becoming far more lovely with every passing day. And as she did so, she attracted many suitors. They were a most colorful collection of individuals. Some were merchants, others were of noble birth, a few were even princes. They would come from the farthest reaches of the world and brought with them the finest treasures as gifts. They would bring the finest silk and jewelry, chests filled with the purest and refined Dust, and the most wonderful flowers.

But the Princess rejected them all. For Blake Belladonna believed in that sweet idea of true love, the kind which causes your heart to race and your face to turn bright red whenever your gaze should fall upon the person who loves you for your heart, and not because your eyes shine like the brightest star or your skin is as white as snow. To Blake, her suitors had to prove they could live up to this ideal. They could not be greedy, proud, self-serving or boastful. She would test them in one way or another, to discern the contents of their heart. All the suitors failed her tests, unable to control their vices or conceal what lay in their hearts. Her parents were most understanding but were still anxious that she should find someone worthy of her affections. She wouldn't stay young forever, and her looks would fade.

And then one day, there came a suitor who was completely unlike the others. When asked for his name, he introduced himself as Captain Adam Taurus, of the Royal Army. He was a young bull Faunus who had served with distinction in the war, praised for his bravery and fearlessness in the face of the enemy, much loved by his comrades for his selfless and noble heart. For his deeds, he had been raised to the rank of captain and was considered a war hero, with many awards and honors. With hair red like a raging fire and a voice sweet like the spring rose, he charmed the Princess, and soon, she was deeply in love with him. He passed her tests effortlessly, displaying nothing but kindness and generosity, and her parents were most pleased with their daughter's choice for a husband. At long last, Blake Belladonna had found her one, true love. Now, she had everything her heart could possibly desire.

But alas, the world is not kind. For on Princess Blake's fifteenth birthday, the King and Queen were called away from the castle on important business. Blake was put in charge of it until they returned, her parents trusting their daughter to be a responsible young lady. The servants had been preparing to celebrate her birthday for months in advance and had invited some of her closest friends. But everyone knew that the guest Blake was most eager to arrive was her beloved, for it was her most sincere and dearest wish that on this day, they would finally become engaged.

And so, as the party began, Blake waited patiently for Adam to arrive. But, strangely, her love did not show. So, to pass the time, she enjoyed herself. After all, the party was in her honor, and it would be disrespectful to not partake in it. She danced with the guests, joked and told stories with them, ate some of the most wondrous dishes that the cooks had poured their heart and soul into. She never forgot her manners, paying each guest a compliment and humbly thanking those she was given.

And yet, all the while, she would check to see if Adam was coming. But each time, there was no sign of him. As the sun began to set, a snowstorm began to brew and rage and young Blake became more and more anxious, worrying for her lover. Her friends tried to reassure her, explaining that he must be late, or that perhaps he had gotten lost. But Blake was beginning to fear the worst. Was he attacked by creatures of Grimm? Could he be lying buried under the snow, freezing to death as he called out for her? Despite the guests' pleas and attempts to console her, Blake prepared to venture out to find him.

Then, at that very moment, there came a knock at the door. Relieved, Blake rushed to the door, expecting to find Adam. He would doubtless apologize for having been late, giving her a bouquet of roses, and she would be ever so forgiving. Why she had even saved a serving of the very best food just for him! She knew he would simply love it.

When she opened the door, however, it was not her Adam, but an old beggar woman, clad in robes the color of autumn leaves. Shivering, the beggar woman asked to be let in from the cold, as well as something to satisfy her hunger. Princess Blake obliged her, ordering that food and drink be brought out at once. The woman thanked the Princess, and as a reward, gifted her a single rose. When a dish was presented to her, the woman instead requested the serving prepared for Adam. The Princess refused, explaining that it was not for her, but her true love. Again, the beggar woman requested the food, pointing out it was growing cold and one should not let hot food go to waste. When the beggar woman sat down in front of it, however, the Princess refused again, coldly taking it from her.

At this, the beggar woman shed her robes to reveal herself as a beautiful Enchantress. Offended at having been denied her request, the Enchantress put a curse upon the princess, transforming her into a terrible, monstrous beast. As for the Princess's faithful servants and dear friends-

"Ugh, please make it stop, Sage!"

Sage Ayana shut his eyes in mild annoyance, sighing as he closed the book. "Okay, Sun, I'll stop," he said, very irritated at the interruption. In hindsight, he shouldn't have read out loud.

Sage slumped in his sleeping bag, groaning. It was too early in the morning for this to start. He tucked his hands behind his head and stared up at the ceiling. While, more like staring through a hole in it and the one above that, through which he could see a clear, blue sky. The sound of birds singing was pleasant to listen to. Sage watched as a single large crow passed overhead, its cawing drowned out by the songs of other birds.

They had found an abandoned house on the edge of Kuo Kuana, the largest and most populated town in Menagerie, and simply moved in. While it was run down and in clear need of repair, with a massive gaping hole in the walls and ceiling, at least it was out of sight of the White Fang. Of course, the downsides were that the house was cold, wet and would undoubtedly leak during a rainstorm - something Neptune was dreading. Currently, they had set up their sleeping bags in the living room, situated around a Dust lamp and away from the hole, just in case. They assumed it had been a living room, anyway. It was large, spacious, and had several pieces of abandoned furniture, such as a worn out and broken red couch, which was leaning against the wall. There was even a faded picture framed on the wall of what could only be a father and his two daughters, one of whom had black and red hair which contrasted sharply with the yellow of her relatives. They were smiling, a perfectly normal, happy family. Sage wondered if they were still alive. Probably not, given this was the White Fang's de facto capital.

The boys were all thieves, made orphans by the Great War, and banded together as brothers. Sun Wukong was a monkey Faunus with bright yellow hair and remarkably toned abs - which Scarlet David had been examining more than once - and the natural leader of this little band. He was reckless, mischevious, daringly irresponsible but undeniably earnest. And brave. And compassionate. In short, he was many things. Sometimes Sage was certain he was a natural born thief. Not that he would ever tell Sun that.

Neptune Vasilias was a lady's man, always to trying to play himself off as the cool guy of the group. Sadly, the shallowness of this facade was ankle-deep. Not that he was given any stick about it by the rest of the group, aside from the occasional playful jab. Dancing and swimming weren't his strong suits, however, lock-picking and being smooth as a slushie were. Well, he was smooth when it came to girls...most of the time. There was no denying, however, he was a skilled combatant. All of them were fairly good, having been trained by a hard life in the art of brawling, but Neptune's father had been a naval admiral who'd refused to have a son who couldn't fight. He'd even given them a few pointers every now and then, during their own little spats.

Scarlet was the...odd one. A bit absent minded at times but he could also be rather perceptive. Focusing on things no one else would pay attention to, and his Semblance was tailor-made for the life of a thief. He was probably the most good-looking of the band, so some people didn't notice his odd tendencies or slip-ups. Most of the time, they assumed they were flirting with him, not having their wallets stolen and bank accounts cleaned out behind their banks. Of course, Scarlet made his awkwardness when it came to flirting with women blatantly obvious.

Sage had a hard time trying to keep them from getting into trouble, especially when he couldn't keep an eye on them. Sometimes it was like babysitting children. A bunch of annoyingly immature children. To ease the stress, he always returned to his favorite past time: reading. Whenever the others remarked on his wits, he simply reminded them books had a lot of very interesting things. Like how to make your own telescope or what kind of herbs worked best for treating wounds, which were effective drugs or could be used to make smoke bombs.

They'd been all over the world, from Vacuo to Mantel to Mistral. By and large, it wasn't the kind of life any of them wanted to live, but they had gotten used to it after a while, and very good at it. Things had been going well for them while they were in Mistral, but then the law enforcement began stepping up its game. Things had gotten so dangerous that in the end, they had been forced to flee, stowing away on a boat, much to Neptune's discomfort. Cleaning up the vomit had been filthy work for the other three boys and while they all agreed they should have taken an airship, there hadn't been any available that they could hide on. So, at the first possible moment, they'd gotten off, for Neptune's sake. He'd been remarkably good-natured about it, however, simply joking about how disappointed his dad had been when Neptune first ran away screaming from the ocean. Just like every other time.

Sun Wukong sighed in relief. "Thank the gods! I wasn't sure how much more of that bullcrap I could take." He sat up in his sleeping bag, stretching his arms and yawning. He turned his head to face Sage, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "Why do you even read that?"

"Because I enjoy it," Sage answered, before silently adding, "and it gives me some form of stress relief." He wasn't exactly fond of Sun's attitudes toward fairy tales. Too "full of that stupid make-believe and true love crap" to be worth reading. Of course, the other boys knew there was another reason entirely for Sun's distaste of fairy tales, but it was not something they would ever bring up. Sometimes, secrets were better left buried.

"But Princess Blake died three years ago when her castle was attacked by Grimm! You know that, and so do the rest of us! Everyone in Menagerie knows that! The whole world-"

"Yes, we know, Sun, we know!" Scarlet David snapped suddenly. The red-haired boy groaned as he woke up, rubbing his eyes, staying in the sleeping bag as he shot Sun a dirty look. "Some of us are trying to get our beauty sleep, so keep it down."

"Sorry," Sage replied, frowning a bit before he started to think. Normally, he was okay with letting his friends sleep in, but not this time. He turned to face Scarlet, smirking. "You know, now is a good time to get up. Early bird gets-"

"Leave me alone," Scarlet groaned, sounding tired. Though, Sage thought he might be faking it.

"Scarlet, you should get up. We agreed last night that this was going to be a tough day, even with most of the White Fang out of town. If we get ready now, we probably won't have as much trouble as we usually do." Sage tried to sound reasonable but got the feeling Scarlet wouldn't see it that way.

"Well, I didn't get enough sleep last night. Now, let me rest," Scarlet retorted.

Sage groaned. "Come on, Scarlet, do you really have to do this now? I know it's been a long journey, but you can rest later."

Sun nodded, before turning back to the redhead. "Scarlet, come on. It's gonna be a long day, so we might as well get up now. Right, Neptune?" Sun smirked, turning to his friend. However, he perked when he noticed something. He counted four sleeping bags, one for each of the boys, and yet, one of them was empty. His tail started to twitch. "Wait, where's Neptune?"

Now it was Sage's turn to face someone, in this case, Sun. "Oh, he got up early to scout out the marketplace."

"What?!" Sun cried, sitting bolt upright. "I said I would go last night! What if the White Fang spot him? He'll be torn to pieces!"

Sage sat up straight in the sleeping bag, holding up his hand. "Sun, relax. You were asleep, and he didn't want to wake you."

"How do you know?"

"He told me," Sage answered. "Neptune can handle himself, and we've managed to avoid the White Fang several times before. The guards should be changing shifts now, anyway."

Sun rubbed the back of his head, staring at his lap. "Yeah, you're right, Sage. I just wish he had told me before he left." Out of all his friends, Sun was closest to Neptune, by far. They went way back.

Scarlet propped himself up on his elbow, mildly frustrated, as he muttered quietly about no one listening to him."Well, I'm not getting any more sleep." His hair needed combing and eyes were rather droopy, and there seemed to be something hanging from his nose.

Sun shrugged, smirking. "Hey, I think that's a good look for you." Sun barely avoided the pillow that came sailing through the air at him. Scarlet shook his head as he zipped open his bag and began looking through it for a tissue and comb.

"Though, Sage, that book? You should get rid of it," Sun said, changing the topic flawlessly.

"Why?"

"But it's not even been a decade, and already people are writing the most ridiculous pieces of crap I've ever heard about what could have possibly have happened to the princess," Sun continued, sitting up on his elbows. "Turned into a hideous beast by some magical witch-"

"Wait, didn't the story say it was an enchantress?" Scarlet interrupted, confused, stopping his search to look back to Sun.

Sun sighed and rolled his eyes. "Witch, enchantress, it's all the same. So, as I was saying-"

"No, it's not," Scarlet interrupted again, sitting up straight. "How are witches and enchantresses the same? Sure, they're both women who practice magic, but they're completely different!"

"How?" Sun asked, curling his tail in agitation. Course, he was very used to it by this point.

"One enchants things, the other turns people into frogs and things."

Sun stared at him for a few seconds, slightly stunned, but definitely amused at Scarlet's answer. Then he leaned towards Scarlet, resting his chin on the back of his hand and raising an eyebrow, smirking. "And just what did the enchantress do to Princess Blake?"

Scarlet opened his mouth to speak, then realized what Sun was getting at. He slumped back into his sleeping bag, covering himself up to his neck. "I'm going back to sleep now."

Sun waved his friend's statement off. "Scarlet, don't be such a grouch. It's morning, and about time we were getting ready. Sage, what time is it right now, anyway?"

Sage turned to his bag and began fishing around before he retrieved a small pocket watch, slightly rusted around its sides, but otherwise perfectly fine. Pressing a small button, it opened to the pair of hands turning with a soft tick. "I'd say it's about 6:50," Sage answered.

"See? Just the time to start the day," Sun said as he turned back to Scarlet, smiling triumphantly with his hands on his hips. "Come on, Scarlet. We all agreed we should wake up early last night if we wanted to make a killing today. And if those rumors about the White Fang having moved some of the men out of this town are true, we have an even bigger chance of making the biggest haul of our lives."

Scarlet didn't say anything for a few seconds, just laid in his sleeping bag, thinking about how he could get to sleep, until he simply admitted defeat and then spoke up, mentally cursing Sun. "Can I have my pillow back?" he asked.

Sun shook his head. "Sorry, man. What I say goes, remember? And I say, it's time for you to get up!"

Scarlet groaned, rolling his head to the side. "Of course, oh fearless leader," he said, waving his hand dismissively, "how could we ever forget how you heroically managed to swindle that gorgeous rich lady back in Mistral? You know, the one with all the white makeup?"

Sun stiffened, practically deflating. His lip quivered a bit. "Why did you have to bring that up, Scarlet?" He threw his hands up into the air, staring skyward."I'm still having nightmares about her! Her teeth were rotting out of her skull, and her singing!" Sun shuddered, hugging himself tightly. "It was dreadful..."

Scarlet stared dumbly at Sun, mouth hanging open. "Are you being absolutely serious, Sun?"

"One hundred percent, buddy," Sun answered. He was looking away from Scarlet and was doing a good job of keeping his laughter in check.

Scarlet was confused, surprised and altogether not sure what to make of this information. "But I thought the two of you-"

"PLEASE DON'T REMIND ME!" Sun cried out in anguish, dramatically striking a pose as he placed the back of a hand on his forehead and outstretching his other hand towards Scarlet in an act of mock desperation, still looking away but this time, he had closed his eyes, letting Scarlet see part of his face.

Scarlet just…..stared, unsure of what to do. "Wow, she was really that bad?"

It was then Sun burst out laughing, unable to control himself any longer. Scarlet caught on at that moment. "Oh, you little-" he fumed, trying to steam in rage but starting to chuckle himself.

Sage laughed at his friends' antics. Then his expression got serious as he considered something. "Think we'll get a good haul this time?"

Sun shrugged his shoulders. "Hopefully. What you are guys hoping to find?"

"A new copy of The Monkey and the Princess," Sage answered, smirking slightly.

"No," Sun said firmly, quickly shooting a glare at Sage. He had been hoping to read that particular book for ages, but Sun had been doing his best to make sure he would never find it.

Scarlet joined in the conversation, having wiped his nose. His hair was still a mess, but he had gotten out his comb and was brushing it into shape. "Oh, never heard of that one, Sage. What's it about?"

"A monkey who falls in love with a princess," Sage answered. Sun groaned, and quickly changed the subject, seeking to avoid the teasing.

"Okay, can we get to talking about what Sage was just reading? Princess Blake Belladonna was turned into a horrific beast? Who wrote that story?"

Sage picked up the book to his face, turning it over in his hand as he examined it. The Tale of Princess Blake Belladonna was embroidered across it in worn, golden fabric, finely stitched together. Actually, it was the only thing on the brown, faded hardback, and seemed completely out of place. He looked it over twice, checked the spine as well as the back to find the name of the author. "Doesn't say, actually," Sage answered, mildly curious as he set it back on the floor.

"Where did you get it?" Scarlet asked, his hair starting to take on its distinctive shape.

"It was just lying on a bench in the last town, and I thought it might be interesting," Sage answered. "It's not that bad, really."

"Well, it's stupid," Sun replied, crossing his arms across his chest. He was seriously wondering how anyone could have thought it was in good taste to write about the Princess when not even a decade had gone by since her demise. How insensitive could someone be? "And another thing, the way it describes Adam Taurus sounds like some rabid fangirl trying to paint him as a noble hero. Adam Taurus, of all people!"

"Yeah, I'll admit, that does bother me," Sage agreed. Adam Taurus has quite the reputation across the world as one of the White Fang's most ruthless members. Some rumored that Adam was still grieving the loss of Princess Blake Belladonna. The story of their young romance was well known, but Sage really couldn't believe that man had ever been capable of love. Not after what he'd done to Menagerie.

"Hey, guys. You're finally up?" The friends started and turned to the doorway. There was the fourth member of their posse, Neptune Vasilias. He flashed them all a smile and was dressed in his usual attire, a pair of goggles perched on his head. In his hand was a rolled up piece of paper. He was smiling, having overheard the interesting conversation they were having. "So, I got good news and bad news. Which would like to hear first?"

"Let's start with the bad news," Sun said, putting his hands on his knees. He was relieved that Neptune had come back okay, and the smile on his face plainly said so.

Neptune shrugged his shoulders as he entered the room, taking a seat on the floor. "Okay, so, the bad news is, we're in Kuo Kuana, the de facto headquarters for the White Fang in Menagerie. The whole town's crawling with them, and they usually patrol in groups of three. If we want to avoid getting caught, we've got to be extra careful about this."

"Neptune, we already knew that." Sun pointed out, rolling his eyes. He was aware of how big a risk they were taking coming to Kuo Kauna, but there hadn't been much choice.

"And the good news?" Scarlet curiously asked.

"Those rumors we've been hearing? They're all true." His friends perked up at that. Neptune seized the opportunity by going more into detail. "Most of the White Fang's troops are gone, and so is Adam Taurus," Neptune explained, feeling rather pleased with himself at the moment. "From what I gathered, they've been called away to deal with bandit attacks in southern Menagerie, so security isn't as tight as it normally would be."

"But we should have a plan in case we do get caught stealing," Scarlet pointed out, before turning back to the map.

"Well, we can't lead them back here," Sun pointed out. "If just one of us ends up in hot water, but not the rest, we should find somewhere to hide out for a while, until things calm down."

"Where, though?" Sage asked. "The forests are infested with Grimm, and the White Fang would be looking everywhere."

Sun thought about that, closing his eyes. When they snapped open, it was clear that he had an idea of some kind, or at least, the beginning of one. "How about the Belladonna castle?"

The silence seemed to practically sweep in among them. Sun had the widest and most confident smile he could muster plastered across his face, but was the tiniest bit nervous, having just come up with the idea on the fly. He wondered if any of the other boys could see through his facade. But of course, they had known each other so long, it would be hard for them not to. Scarlet's mouth had parted slightly in shock, Neptune was confused, staring at his best friend like he had grown a second head, and Sage stared at him wide-eyed, unable to believe what he had just heard.

Sun took a small breath and then began to explain. "Okay, yes, I know that the forest is supposed to be overrun and infested by Grimm, but did anyone else notice how few we actually ran into on our way here?"

That got them thinking. They exchanged glances with each other, waiting to see who would speak up first. "I was wondering about that," Sage said. "From the rumors, Kuo Kuana's forests were supposed to be home to all kinds of Grimm, but we only ever ran into one measly pack of five Beowolves."

"Exactly! And we didn't have any trouble with those, did we? So, if one of us does get in some hot water, we can just hide out there and wait for everything to calm down," Sun folded his arms across his chest, feeling rather proud of himself. Course, he was aware of more than a few flaws with his plan, ones he would either have to work around or just take a gamble with.

"But where is the castle?" Neptune spoke up. Sun blinked, thinking a bit on it, before he unfolded his arms, stretching his legs out from underneath him as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"You don't know, do you?" Sage asked deadpan, obviously rhetorical.

Sun sighed, throwing up his hands in defeat. "No," Sun admitted, "But I'm sure we can find it!"

"How? We just got here," Sage pointed out. He was often the one to notice the flaws in his friends' schemes, and right now, he could name so many of them with Sun's.

"We can ask for directions, or find a map," Sun replied. "I'm sure someone would be willing to let us know where it is."

"Right," Scarlet said, unconvinced. "Like someone is going to tell a completely random stranger where they can find an abandoned castle."

Sun was about to speak when Neptune cut him off, deciding to change the subject. "So, what exactly are we doing today?"

Sun paused, a bit surprised before he started explaining. "We're going to try and steal some stuff, obviously."

"What's the plan for that?" Sage asked, stroking his green hair.

Sun answered that one. "We'll split up into pairs. Try to keep it low key, guys. Scarlet, Sage," he paused then. He had to think about this. Sage was the rational one of the group, though he did have a tendency to rush into things sometimes, and while Scarlet could be a bit scatterbrained, he was still very perceptive and could focus on things others would often overlook. Together, they were able to balance each other's flaws. Most of the time, anyway. So, where should he send them?

"Neptune, let me see that map," he asked. The blue haired boy quickly rolled it out for him. Sun studied it, pursing his lips together for a moment before nodding. "Scarlet and Sage, you two will go down to the market at the docks. Try to pickpocket some people and swipe anything which looks valuable. Neptune, you and I will be checking out the neighborhood. Scout out and plan a break in for tonight."

The three boys nodded in agreement. However, Sun could feel their discomfort at the idea of actually breaking into a house. Last time hadn't gone so well. Even now, he was sure people were still looking for those "four hoodlums who defiled the sanctity of the Marigold house!" So, he clapped his hands together. "Look, I can promise, we'll be able to pull this one off without a hitch. Ready to get going?"

"Shouldn't we get dressed first?" Scarlet asked. They had worn nothing but pants and underwear for pajamas, and were all currently bare-chested, save Neptune, of course.

Sun thought about it, then nodded. "Yeah, good idea."

The three boys got their bags and decided to find somewhere private to get changed. None of them liked the idea of changing in front of each other. There was something called personal space, after all.

While Sun and Scarlet were getting ready, Sage elected to finish reading the book. "Now, where was I..."

As for the Princess's faithful servants and dear friends, they were cursed to be trapped in the castle, their lives linked with the princess's fate. Sneering, the Enchantress declared that unless she found her true love by the time the last rose petal fell and was herself loved by them in return, she would forever remain a hideous beast.

The princess was horrified at this drastic and terrible turn of events, but knew that she had already won, for had she not already found her true love? And thus, she waited for his return. But when Adam discovered Blake, he was shocked by her appearance, and it was only the sound of her voice that stayed his blade. Alas, to the surprise and horror of both, the curse was not lifted when they declared their love. Adam deduced that the Enchantress had lied about how the curse could be broken, no doubt as a cruel trick, and vowed to find her and make her undo it. But then young Adam told his love the most terrible news. The King and Queen had died in a horrific accident, and alas, he could not stay to comfort her, as attacks by the Grimm were becoming more and more frequent across the kingdom. And so, he was entrusted by the Princess to restore order to the realm. But, he promised to visit her as often as he could.

The forest surrounding the castle soon came to be infested with the creatures of Grimm, unable to enter it due to the enchantment placed upon it, but prowling its borders, waiting. And thus was the Beast trapped, unable to leave the castle because of her fearsome appearance, along with her loyal servants and friends, and as time wore on, her belief in true love began to waver. For if her the love of her life could not break the curse, then whoever could?

"Hey Sage, hurry up! We aren't just going to sit around waiting!"

Sun's voice was surprisingly patient, but that was to be expected.

Before Sage got going, he turned the page, getting ready to mark the next one, only to find it was completely blank. He blinked, bewildered and began to flick through the rest of the book, finding nothing but blank pages. Only the first few had any content to speak of. And what was with that last part? The Princess couldn't leave because she was a Beast and not because of the Grimm which were waiting just outside the castle? "Sun's going to love this," he mused. Best to not let him know about it, then.

Though, he did find it odd someone would just leave an unfinished book lying about. It could have been ruined by...well, anything. He began to think about why someone would just leave it lying around, unattended.

"Sage, hurry up!"

Sun's voice snapped him out of his train of thought. Sage slipped the book in his bag, straightened his jacket, and then headed out to join the others. He would think on it later.

The others had gathered at the back of the house, and now that Sage was here, we're ready to get started. Sun was leaning up against the house but quickly noticed Sage had arrived and stood up straight. "What took you so long?" he asked.

"Had a little trouble finding my boot," Sage answered, which was sorta true. He couldn't remember where he had left it last night, but it hadn't been much trouble finding it.

The four friends quickly split off into their pairs, Sage and Scarlet heading for the docks while Sun and Neptune would move into the housing districts of Kuo Kuana. That would be rather tricky, but they were sure they could manage.

It was a clear day for November, no question about that. The sun was shining through soft, grey clouds, the wind was sweet and cool, birds fluttered and sang through the air, and the people of Kuo Kuana were starting to get up. Slowly, the streets began to get crowded as people went about their business. It was rather quiet, at first but a low hum started as they greeted each other. Children, both human and Faunus, were laughing and chasing each other, people chatted with their neighbors, put the washing up or brought it inside, the usual routine for any clear, sunny day, especially one so close to winter. There were a few humans here and there, of course.

Two, in particular, stood out, a boy with black hair, wearing dark green clothes and a girl with red hair and stunning blue eyes, who was wearing a grey jack over a white shirt, along with a pink skirt. They were begging by the side of the road. In front of them was a large grey hat, overturned, with a small number of lien coins. Whenever someone would pass them by without giving them anything, the girl would yell and insult them, shaking her fist, much to the boy's embarrassment. Sun felt a bit bad he didn't have anything to give them but would try and find something they might like. He should ask them what, though.

However, none of the four boys had ever seen so many Faunus in one place before.

Sun couldn't help but remark on that. Neptune playfully rolled his eyes. "Well, can't say you're wrong there, pal." Neptune wasn't exactly wearing anything here, as most of the Faunus in this part of Kuo Kuana didn't mind humans. The White Fang? They were a whole other story.

Sun shrugged. "I'd heard Menagerie was founded by Faunus fleeing or exiled from the other kingdoms, but I never would have thought that there were so many!"

"You just said that," Neptune pointed out, then swiped a small pouch, the former owner not suspecting a thing. He was careful to ensure that no one had seen him before he tucked it into his pocket. The sound of jingling coins indicated it was probably a rather good sum.

"I know, I know," Sun answered, lazily kicking a pebble into the grass. He had watched Neptune's actions, and while normally he would do so with some small degree of pride and amusement, instead, he found himself….not. "It's just...well, maybe I should settle down here someday soon."

Neptune gagged, shocked. He knew Sun was one for jokes, but his tone of voice said this was anything but. He turned to Sun, studying him keenly for a moment, then put a hand on his shoulder, bewildered, stopping him. "Wait, are you serious?" The idea of Sun Wukong, someone who has traveled all over the world, has never expressed an interest in settling down once, ever, doing just that, caught him completely by surprise. And he was his oldest and best friend.

The two friends did not resume walking. All the while, Sun did not answer him. Finally, after a deep breath and letting it out, Sun answered his friend. "I'm tired of being a thief, Neptune. Always having to run from one place to another, avoiding the law, risking our lives to get whatever we can...It's not something I enjoy anymore."

Neptune nodded his head slightly, knowing where his best friend was coming from. It was certainly getting harder for them nowadays, especially after what had gone down in Mistral. They were lucky to get away with their heads still attached to their necks. Truth be told, he was even now having serious doubts as to whether or not they should continue to be thieves, and wondered if Sage and Scarlet felt the same way. Sooner or later, they would get caught.

"How long have you been thinking about it?" Neptune asked him. Sun was about to answer him when something gave him pause and he froze, his face becoming tight, eyes staring straight up the road. Neptune stopped, unsure and confused as to what was bothering him. He was about to have a look when Sun suddenly sprang into motion, shoving him out of the road and behind one of the houses. Neptune was stunned by this development. He opened his mouth to speak when Sun put a finger to his lips, motioning for him to be quiet.

"White Fang," he whispered. Neptune froze. Sun stuck his head around the corner.

They had just turned the corner and were coming down the road, keeping an even and steady pace with each. One was large and broad-shouldered, wearing a sleeveless shirt. His wolf tail hung lazily from behind him, wagging slightly from side to side. The other was a girl with small antlers, a bit on the slim side, with bright red hair. Both were wearing masks which covered the upper half of their faces, leaving only the bottom half visible. They were both dressed in black and white outfits, as per the White Fang dress code, and Sun could see what looked like weapons strapped to their sides, a sword and pistol combo. As they approached, any humans fortunate enough to see them coming quickly ducked out of the way, running into their homes to avoid their looming gaze.

Sun turned back to find that Neptune was peeking around the corner, eyeing the White Fang carefully. "You better hide," Sun told him. "I'll tell you when the coast is clear. Hopefully, they won't cause any trouble."

But Neptune was still watching them, however, and then his face changed its expression to brief shock and panic, before being followed by a mixture of dismay, pity, and simple resignation. "Too late," Neptune said softly, slowly pointing his finger behind Sun.

Confused and alarmed, Sun turned back around. What he saw made his breath catch in his throat.

One of the White Fang goons, Wolf Tail, was slowing his pace and tilting his head slightly to the side, then held up his arm, stopping his partner, who seemed surprised for a moment. Then he pointed at the two beggars. Neither one had spotted them yet, the red-haired girl just shaking her fist at a yet another passerby. The two seemed to study them for a few moments before Deer Antlers smiled and pressed a fist into her open palm. Any other day, Sun and Neptune would have thought she was trying too hard. Sadly, thanks to the fact she drew her cutlass alongside her partner as they began to advance on the homeless pair, this would not be one of those days.

Sighing, Sun reached behind his back, pulling out a pair of red and gold nunchucks, which Sun had affectionately named Ruyi-Bang and Jingu-Bang. Neptune watched him in mute frustration, not exactly surprised. Of all the stupid times he had to be a hero, this was not a good one.

When Sun turned to him, he was clenching his fist, his lips pressed together tight. The monkey boy could see the pain in his eyes. He parted his lips slightly, trying to think of something to say, but his mind decided to not be cooperative today, drawing a blank. So instead, he gave him a signature smirk. "Dude, don't worry. I can handle this."

Neptune sighed, unclenching his fist in resignation. "You think we can find that castle?"

"Positive." And then Sun was gone, blending into the crowd. Ruyi-Bang and Jingu-Bang were out and ready to play as well.

"What am I going to tell Sage and Scarlet?" Neptune asked himself, shaking his head.


	2. Chapter 2

Sage picked up a crab apple, turning it over in his hand. He ran his thumb over its smooth, green skin. Currently, he was in front of a fruit cart. The man that he presumed to be the owner was a Faunus with several dark brown scales on his skin. He was staring at Sage with extreme caution, something Sage was able to ignore for the most part. Still, he had been very difficult so far as it was, very obviously suspecting Sage of being a thief. Sage didn't want to let him know how well found those suspicions were.

"How much is this?" He asked the shopkeeper. He didn't expect a simple apple to be worth as much as, say, the giant sword Sage had spotted leaning against the side of the weapons stall - the one with the two White Fang goons, arms folded across their chests and swords sheafed, a small Faunus man with a pair of rat ears obscured by his long, oily black hair counting a small stack of Lien coins, bony fingers tapping against the wood impatiently. Yeah, no way he or any human would be getting it any time soon. Shame, it looked like a really nice sword. He realized he was staring just as one of the White Fang guards noticed him, before turning back to the shopkeeper. Thankfully, the goon didn't pay him much attention.

"About two Lien," the shopkeeper answered.

"Not bad," Sage replied, setting the apple back down. He lightly trailed a finger across the shiny skin, at the same time keeping an eye on the White Fang goons nearby. If there was one part of a heist he hated, it was stalling for time.

"So, if an apple costs about two Lien, how much for a basket?"

"Ten," the shopkeeper said instantly. "Though it also depends on what kind of apples you want."

"Okay, so, can I get three baskets?"

The shopkeeper sniffed, chuckling smugly. "You got enough Lien for that?"

Sage began searching through his pockets, frowning. "I should..." Grimacing, Sage slammed a fist on the table. "Damn it, I must have left it back home!"

The shopkeeper sighed, rubbing his forehead in exasperation. "Freaking humans," he muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" Sage asked. He raised an eyebrow and folded his arms across his chest, a smug look on his face. "You got a problem with humans?"

The shopkeeper stared Sage dead in the face, then snorted. "No, I just have a problem with their ability to lose sight of what's important."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means, if you can't pay, get lost, bud."

Sage nodded understandingly, began strolling away, and then, making deliberate eye contact with the scaly shopkeeper, reached out a hand and snapped up five apples in rapid succession, before taking a bit out of one. The shopkeeper stared, flabbergasted, as Sage immediately made a quick getaway into the crowd. He pointed after him feebly. "Stop! Thief!"

Sage rolled his eyes, trying to suppress his excitement. He had to focus. Glancing behind him, he could already see the White Fang goons guarding the weapons stall speeding after him.

Now all he had to do was wait for Scarlet to play his part.

Cluny Havarti licked his yellow teeth as he ran a hand through his black locks. When was the last time he had showered again? He wasn't exactly sure, come to think of it. Ah well, no matter. He could shower after he counted his profits. And yes indeed, it was a tidy sum...

A small clattering sound made him start from his seat, pushing it back as he got on his feet. His beady eyes squinted and he slowly scanned the area in front of him.

His guards were both chasing a human thief, leaving only him to watch this joint. Bloody idiots, it was just one silly human, both didn't need to hunt him down. He'd report their incompetence as soon as possible...once he was done counting the Lien.

Something bumped against his foot, and Cluny looked down to see a discarded can resting against it. He muttered about the disgusting manners of humankind before bending down to pick it up. The moment his head was below the stall, a short but powerful gust of wind blasted past, knocking him flat on his back, the stool crashing into his stomach moments later. With the air driven from his lungs, Cluny weakly pushed the stool off him and clutched his wounded body, before unsteadily picking himself off the ground.

The moment he looked back at the stall, his mouth dropped open in shock.

Every cent of Lien - along with a massive sword, one the more expensive pieces - was gone. The crowd which had been milling its way past was staring in complete shock, same as Cluny. The rat Faunus quickly looked around, trying to find any trace of the thieves who'd stolen from him.

But he didn't even find a shadow.

Especially the one slipping away, unseen by anyone, with a large sword and coins shrouded in black clutched tightly in its hands.

It hadn't been too hard for Sage to elude the White Fang. After he threw the last apple at them, he sharply turned down an alleyway, then kicked forward with a burst of speed that left white feathers behind him. He shot over the walkway with outstretched wings, surprising several people below him. They cried out and pointed at the winged boy, easily drawing attention to himself.

Just as planned.

Using his Semblance this openly, though, was sure to draw some very unwanted attention, which meant he had to deactivate it almost as soon as it began. Thank the gods his wings were as bright as the sun when that happened. Expertly landing on his feet, he stumbled for a moment before sprinting past several more houses.

He glanced around briefly, scanning. It didn't take long for him to see Scarlet's Shadow nearby, waving at him. He smirked. The heist had gone flawlessly.

Wait a minute, why did it have that big sword?

"I just wanted to get you a little something, and thought you'd like this."

"You stole the biggest sword I've ever seen. Gods, it's the biggest sword at a stall which clearly has connections with the White Fang! Their goons are going to be hunting us for months now!"

They were only supposed to take the Lien. Just the Lien, and nothing else.

Nothing else didn't include this damned thing, in Scarlet's view. The sword was at least as big as Sage was tall, and had gold markings encrusted along the blade. The handle had a firm, solid grip, and Sage could easily wield it with both hands. He hadn't yet, though, as that would be condoning Scarlet's idiocy.

Not that it wasn't a really nice sword.

He had to focus though. The moment he came back to the hideout, he waited for his friend's return. Scarlet had been smiling broadly, but his face dropped the moment he saw Sage's scowl.

"So should I give it back?" Scarlet asked wistfully.

"Gods, no! That would be the same thing as turning ourselves in!"

"You sure, Sage?"

Sage simply gave him a deadpan look. Scarlet understood instantly. "Oh right, this is the White Fang we just stole from..."

Scarlet thought for a few moments before he said the obvious. "So, we have to keep it?"

"Yes," Sage said, rolling his eyes. He wanted to be reluctant. It was leaning against the living room wall, looking remarkably out of place against the old decaying walls covered in mold.

"If you're wondering, nobody saw Shadow drop it off here," Scarlet said, trying to be reassuring.

"Of course nobody did," Sage said, rubbing his fingers along the bridge of his nose, "nobody ever sees Shadow."

"Which means they don't know I stole it."

Sage turned sharply. Scarlet was right, no question. His Semblance let him detach his own Shadow and take control of it as if it were a living thing. It was perfect for sneaking into tight nooks, crannies and underneath locked doors. Anything it touched - somehow - became encased in it, almost invisible to the naked eye. It was one of their greatest assets.

He was still amazed that Bazil Sagarlid had actually figured it out.

"But they did see me," Sage pointed out. "I doubt they're that stupid."

"Oh please, there's probably tons of boys around here with your hair color and skin type."

Sage rolled his eyes. "Not human, anyway." But now that he thought about it, the situation wasn't as bad as it first seemed.

While the White Fang would definitely on the lookout for anyone matching Sage's description, Scarlet was in the clear. And, given Adam Taurus had taken some many of them to fight the Branwen bandits, they were woefully undermanned.

"Wanna count the Lien?" Scarlet interrupted his train of thought by pulling out two small boxes. He shook one, and coins rattled inside.

"Why not?"

Scarlet dumped the contents unto the floor. One coin almost rolled away, but Sage had been ready. He held it between thumb and forefinger, examining it for any trace of forgery. Just in case.

On one side was printed the Belladonna lily, the other, Menagerie's coat of arms, along with a date and the motto of the White Fang. He briefly bit it between his teeth, but detached no change in temperature or tasted lead. "This one's good," he declared.

"How can you tell?"

"We've been over this already."

"Right, right, fake coins tend to be made with some other alloys which taste like-"

The creak of the door followed by some familiar footsteps made the boys sit up from counting their haul. Neptune was standing in the door frame, looking dejected. Sage was the first to state the obvious.

"Where's Sun?"

Neptune met his gaze and sighed.

"Playing hero. Again."

Sage's open palm smacked against his face, hard. "What is it this time?" Scarlet asked, sitting with his legs crossed.

"Let me start from the beginning..."

Ren yawned, exhausted. The sun's rays were not as brutal as they had been in Vacuo, but they stung his eyes every now and then. Nora didn't seem to mind. No, she was more focused on the people who didn't give them any Lien.

"Oh yeah? Well, I'll break your legs, you stuck up!"

"Nora," Ren sighed, "how many have I told you not to say that?"

"But Ren, you know I don't really mean it!"

"There some things you can never live down, Nora. Threatening to break someone's legs is one of them. Especially around here."

Nora rolled her eyes. "Well, we've been stuck here for two months now. Once we earn enough to buy tickets, we're home safe. Besides, the White Fang hasn't been any trouble." The ginger-haired girl took a seat next to her life-long best friend since childhood, wiping away some grime from her face. "Oh, you think we have enough Lien to get pancakes?"

Ren smiled and pulled the small straw hat to his lap. Running a finger through it, he began counting in a whisper, before he heard the cracking of knuckles as heavy footsteps approached. He glanced up quickly to discover two White Fang goons coming towards them. One had a wolf tail and was smirking devilishly. The woman beside him had deer antlers and had already drawn her sword.

As they came to a stop, Nora first gave Ren a confused look before following his gaze. Her breath hitched when she saw them.

"Sorry if we're interrupting anything," Wolf Tail said sarcastically, "but we heard someone was threatening to break the legs of good, honest Faunus citizens."

"I was joking," Nora said, smiling nervously. Ren gave her a sharp jab in the side with his elbow.

"Please, as she said, it was just a joke," Ren said, turning back to the White Fang. He too was smiling, trying to disarm the situation.

"We don't care," said the Deer Girl. "Now hand over the Lien."

"Why?!" Nora shot up to her feet on the spot. "We were given that fair and square."

Deer Girl immediately jabbed the sword forward, stopping just short of Nora's throat. "Well, well," she said, feigning sadness, "threatening a White Fang officer? And admitting to theft? My, my, Beow, this is rather serious."

"Agreed, Roe," Beow smirked as he spoke, flexing his neck and shoulders, "we're going have to really punish you."

Ren got to his feet instantly, taking a stance alongside Nora, heedless as the Lien fell to the ground. He'd known talking would be pointless, but he hoped maybe, just maybe, somebody would listen.

"Resisting arrest now?" Roe said, drawing back the curved sword over her head. "You brought this on yourselves, scum."

There was a flash of motion, a horrible crunch, and Roe dropped the sword. She collapsed to her knees, clutching her swelling wrist. "What-" Beow didn't even get to finish as something slammed into his face, cracking the Grimm mask. He staggered, reaching up to feel his bleeding nose before he was kicked in the stomach, knocking the breath from his lungs. He keeled over, groaning. Roe tried to get up herself, only for a boot to collide with her forehead, leaving her in a similar position to her partner.

Standing above them was a Faunus with a yellow monkey's tail, matching the color of his hair. He wore padded, fingerless gloves, and wore a white jacket that was unbuttoned, revealing his well-developed chest. He held two red and gold nunchucks expertly, blue eyes darting from one fallen goon to the other. Satisfied they were down for the count, the boy glanced at Ren and Nora. "You guys should probably run now. Follow me, I can-"

He didn't get to finish speaking, instead taken by surprise when Beow lunged at him, having recovered faster than expected. The boy barely avoided a swipe of his fist and ducked under the second, before kicking backward, putting a little distance between them.

By this point, a small crowd had gathered, as people watched the unfolding commotion.

Beow spat on the ground, drawing his sword while wiping away blood from his face. With his mask broken, Ren could see the smoldering, intense hatred in his grey eyes.

"Dang," their savior said, impressed, "you're one tough dog."

"Get off your ass, Roe," Beow growled, "and kill those runts."

"GO TO HELL!"

Beow's face twisted with agony as he was struck by a wooden club, directly on his head. Ren saw his grey Aura briefly flashing. As he staggered, Beow didn't even have a chance to regain his footing before Nora followed up with a harder whack to the stomach. In moments he was enduring a series of painful blows, delivered with extreme prejudice to his face, chest, shoulders, knees, and ribs. All the while, Nora was screaming bloody murder, pure rage on her face. After a brutal swing to the chin, Beow finally reacted by blocking the next one with his sword and began pushing back against Nora, glaring back with gritted teeth. Then monkey boy jumped back into the fray, literally, delivering a sharp kick to Beow's head.

A grunt caused Ren to turn to Roe, the deer Faunus. She was starting to get to her feet now, reaching for her sword. Without another thought, Ren immediately ran forward and kicked upwards. Roe barely had time to look up and see him coming before he connected with her jaw. Sent reeling backward, Ren refused to give her any time to recover, pinning her to the ground as he began raining punches on her face. As he sent another hurtling downward, however, Roe suddenly caught it and followed up with a sharp punch to his own jaw. Caught off guard, Ren wasn't able to prevent Roe wrapping her fingers around his neck and pushing him to the ground.

Meanwhile, Nora was having a blast. The monkey boy's nunchucks kept Beow's sword occupied, giving her an opening. As she raised her wooden club, however, she heard Ren crying out in pain and turned around. When she saw him being strangled, struggling against the grip of that goon, all thoughts of giving Beow a righteous beating were forgotten.

"Ren!" He heard Nora crying, doubtless having realized his plight.

"Go! I can handle this guy!" She gave the monkey boy a quick glance and saw he was doing just that. Beow made a swing with his blade, leaving an opening her unexpected ally exploited by smacking the elbow of his sword arm. Beow's hand released the blade, leaving him weaponless as he tried to block against each attack.

Roaring, Nora charged, catching Roe's attention. She turned to her and instantly released Ren, rolling off him to avoid the club's brute force. Nora immediately helped Ren get back on his feet, trying to support him as he took short gasps of air. However, he could only focus on their enemy.

"Nora, look out!" Already aware of the incoming attack, Nora pushed him away and braced herself, swinging the club again. Roe had sprinted forward and met Nora's attack, grunting as she firmly grabbed the club with one hand. Nora only had a second to take this in before Roe punched her in the stomach and tried to pull the club away. Nora responded, however, by headbutting her. She'd taken worse than a punch to the stomach and remained standing. But it still hurt.

Roe took a step back, letting go of the club, before snapping back and charging again. Then Ren smashed into her, catching her mid-sprint, using the whole of his slender body to knock the woman off balance. Seeing an opportunity, Nora ran forward and slammed the club into Roe's shoulder.

"DUCK!"

Both Ren and Nora turned around and saw the incoming form of Beow, his body flung through the air, and immediately jumped away. Roe saw it too, but, still recovering from the unexpected tenacity of the humans, was struck full on and knocked to the ground.

Beow had clearly been knocked unconscious, the remnants of his broken Aura flashing before fading away, the same happening to his hapless partner.

"This time, stay down," the monkey Faunus said as he came up to Ren and Nora. He was exasperated but satisfied.

"You guys okay?" He said, turning to the humans he had just rescued.

"A little bit tired, but we're good," Ren said, having begun collecting the meager amount of Lien scattered on the ground. "Thanks for helping."

"No problem," monkey boy answered, "but I think we should probably-"

"OVER THERE!"

At the sound of a woman's voice, all three turned to see a large man, his face completely covered by a Grimm mask coming towards them quickly. Ren imagined he'd be running if it weren't for the chainsaw he was carrying. A woman with bat wings was pointing in their direction, so no prizes would be given out for guessing for had sounded the alarm.

"-run."

Ren and Nora both knew something wasn't right. They could feel it. "But-"

"GO!" The boy's stern command silenced Nora's protest. They turned and ran for it, hoping to lose themselves in the crowd.

Sun watched them go before turning around and readying Ruyi Bang, clutching one end underneath his shoulder. The chainsaw-wielding maniac came to a stop, hefting his weapon and tilting his head to the side.

"You're not some low-life thief," he murmured, eyeing Sun's stance. "Somebody's trained you. Let me guess; Mistral agent?"

"Actually," Sun said with a smirk, "I'm the best thief in the world."

Neptune had been watching this all unfold, hiding behind a shack. But the moment he saw the White Fang holding a chainsaw, every instinct inside him said something had gone really, really wrong.

No way that he'd been told two of his goons had been attacked in the streets and gotten here that fast. That woman with the bat wings probably had something to do with it. Made sense, but then again, why had he come alone? From what he saw in his fight with Sun, he seemed a competent enough fighter. Far more so than the two currently unconscious White Fang goons. Unless-

Neptune glanced to the sky when he heard the unmistakable sound of leathery wings. Of course. There was another bat Faunus. And he was after the two escaping orphans.

Oh well. Seems this would be his business after all.

Ren and Nora had finally stopped running, now in what they hoped was a safe hiding spot. Alleyways were often their first choice, anyway, and it'd never gone wrong for them before.

"Ren," Nora said, "please tell me we have enough Lien to get the first boat to Mistral?"

Ren was about to answer when Nora brightened, groaned then pointed behind him. "Hold that thought." He instinctively turned around to see someone descending from above on a pair of leathery, black wings. The red Grimm head with three claw marks running through it plastered on one shoulder marked him as White Fang.

"Damn it," he muttered, now thoroughly sick of Menagerie.

The bat Faunus stared at both of them with a face seemingly devoid of emotion. But Ren could feel the disdain radiating off his body.

"For two lowly humans," he mused as his feet touched the ground, "you are indeed brave. Were it not for that traitor, I have no doubt Beow and Roe would be currently hauling your corpses to the sea. And that would indeed be a pity."

"But you won't let us go, will you?"

"No," he answered Ren's question almost sorrowfully. "However, I will at least give you the chance to-"

With a yell blue-haired boy suddenly tackled the bat Faunus from behind, wrapping an arm around the neck and using his other to lock it in place. The bat grunted for a moment before kicking backward and moving to the side, trying to slam him against the wall. However, he just twisted and redirected the momentum almost effortlessly, holding his grip.

The bat Faunus twisted his neck and got a good look at him. He smirked. "If I'm not mistaken," he grunted, still struggling to break free, "you're Admiral Vasilias missing son?"

The boy didn't say anything, instead, he smashed his leg in the bat's groin. The bat's eyes widened in surprise, clearly stunned his opponent would stoop so low. It was all Neptune needed to push forward, grabbing the back of his head and slam his head into the wall, once, twice, then a third time. The bat collapsed onto the ground, groaning as he slipped into unconsciousness. Then he turned to Nora and Ren.

"You guys should come with me."

"...and that's what happened."

"So, let me get this straight: Sun and two humans managed to take down two White Fang goons, then you kicked another guy in the balls before knocking him out?"

"Pretty much, Sage."

"Where are the beggers?"

In direct response to Scarlet's question, a ginger girl poked her head around the wall. Her blue eyes were as bright as her smile. "Hello!"

After introductions were made and the newcomers beginning told that no, there were no pancakes, Scarlet offered them some apples, which they accepted.

"What are we supposed to do with you guys?" Sage said.

"They can stay here," Scarlet said.

"Four people in an abandoned building is one thing. Nobody pays much attention to the outskirts as is, but there's no way we can hide six. People will notice and they will talk about it."

"We aren't even planning on stay in Menagerie," Ren spoke up, before taking another bite of his apple.

"But how are you going to leave? The White Fang is going to be looking for you and - wait a minute, what about Sun?"

"Relax, Sage, I'm sure he's fine. He can handle himself. Watch, any minute now, he's going to come bursting through that door, without a scratch on him." Neptune flashed a smile, shrugging his shoulders. I hope, he mentally added.

"Oh yeah, those were some great moves back there!" Nora said, stuffing another apple into her mouth. "Where'd you learn it?"

As Neptune began explaining, Sage sat up and walked over to the window. Someone had to provide a lookout, and he was positive the White Fang would be showing up any second now. Yes, he knew most of them were with Adam but his gut told him something wasn't right.

At the least, he would know when Sun got back.

Sun grunted as he was thrown into another wall. When he collapsed to the ground, he looked back up, staring the bastard right in the Grimm mask. "First that wolf now you?"

"Beow's Semblance gave you trouble?" his opponent drawled in a deep voice. "One of my most reliable men. I'm surprised you managed to beat him. But then again" - he paused, then swung his chainsaw in a glistening arc that would sever Sun's head - "you're putting up far too good a fight."

Sun ducked and rolled out the way, just as the blade bit into the wood, tearing it to pieces in seconds. If he'd been any slower, that would have been his head.

He'd underestimated this guy. Badly. While he wasn't particularly fast, he was like a brick wall. Everything Sun had tried to throw at him had just rolled off as if it were nothing. Not to mention his enormous size and long reach. When he finally grabbed Sun around the neck and thrown him like a ragdoll, that was when it dawned on him that maybe he should have run for it as well.

Ruyi Band and Jingu Bang were both laying on the ground behind the guy, out of reach. Barehanded, Sun doubted he'd last long against that chainsaw. Not that his prized nunchucks had made much of a difference.

Raising his chainsaw in one hand, the mook chuckled. "Tell me you were joking about being the best thief in the world. What kind of crook sticks his neck out for two human beggers?" Okay, so he probably still thought he was some kind of agent sent by one of the human kingdoms. Maybe he could use that some how...nah, it'd make the situation worse.

"The good kind," Sun said with a smirk, before taking a deep breath. He glanced around, aware of how people were fleeing the scene. No surprise, given he could see about five more goons showing up.

There had to be some kind of cosmic deity playing a trick on him. His luck was never this bad.

"Well," the giant growled, "I'll make you the dead kind." With a roar, he charged forward, chainsaw posed to attack.

Sun narrowed his eyes and concentrated. His body became encased in a golden glow, the only warning before a clone made of golden light suddenly shot forward, seemingly from nowhere.

"What-" the giant only managed to say that before the clone made contact, exploding at that moment. He cried out in shock, knocked onto the ground by the impact. It was the opening Sun needed. Without a moment to lose, he jumped forward. Leaping over the prone form, he couldn't help smashing his foot into his face. That felt good. And it made for a good launchpad.

Having picked up his prized weapons, he turned around to see the mass of muscle had gotten up and was already making a run at him. Shit.

Sun was already preparing to make another dodge when something entirely unexpected happened.

The mook...tripped.

On his own foot.

Knocked off his balance, he fell flat on his face, releasing the chainsaw as well.

Never one to pass up any opportunity luck provided him, Sun ran. He didn't care where or how far he did, he just ran. Across rooftops, down alleyways, underneath houses, carts, didn't matter what it was. He just needed to get away.

By the time he stopped, exhausted he was resting against a bar somewhere. By this point, he was sure that he'd lost his pursuers. If he had any, to begin with.

A crow suddenly cawed, startling Sun and making him look up. In his current frame of mind, a pin dropping would have been like that giant's chainsaw scratching his shirt.

Lo and behold, there was indeed a crow sitting atop the bar, staring at him with black, beady eyes. It lingered for a few moments before taking off, cawing again as it left. A piece of paper fell from the roof in response, landing on the ground softly. It was rolled up, a green rope holding securing it tightly.

"Okay, that was weird," Sun muttered. Still, he was curious about how awfully convenient it was for a bird to just cause a rolled up parchment to land next to him. Not one to turn down any gift, Sun reached over and plucked it up, freeing it from its bindings and unrolling it.

His mouth dropped open in shock the moment he finished.

"I'm going to go looking for him," Sage declared. "He's been gone for two hours now."

Neptune sighed, nodding. He was sick with worry for their fearless leader.

"I'll help," Ren said.

"You don't have to-"

"If it wasn't for him, Nora and I would be dead now. If he gave his life to protect us..."

"He's not dead," Neptune snapped, glaring at the other boy.

An awkward silence issued, broken by Nora's small cough.

"So," she said, forcing a smile, "uh...anyone wanna play charades?"

Sage rolled his eyes, about to say this wasn't the time when there was a knock at the window. He spun around to see Sun's mischievous smirk, and couldn't help smiling in relief.

After Sun had come inside and explained how he got away, along with his unusual encounter with the crow, he now had more questions.

"So...this crow gave you a piece of paper in a green ribbon?"

"It was a rope actually," Sun answered, holding up said item, "but you wanna know what the paper is?" He wagged it in front of the assembled teens.

"A map!" Nora said, holding up her fist triumphantly.

Sage was about to dismiss her when he saw Sun's stunned face. "Yes," the blond said. "It is. How'd you know that?"

"Lucky guess," Ren said, almost like he was used to it.

"What's it a map of?" Scarlet asked.

Sun laid the paper on the floor and unrolled it. Drawn in black ink, everyone could see clearly a very detailed illustration of Kuo Kuana and the surrounding forest infested with Grimm, but for the four thieves, their attention was drawn to the large building drawn in the middle of it. With a trail marked from Kuo Kuana leading right through the forest to it.

This is getting creepy, Sage thought to himself. Neptune said it out loud.

"Creepy, how?" Ren asked.

"We uh...had a plan to flee there if needed," Sun said, still wrapping his head around this turn of events.

"A bird gave you a map leading right to the Belladonna castle," Nora said, face blank, "the very place you had chosen as a good hideout...why?"

"Because nobody would think of it," Ren added, having caught on quick, despite his bemusement.

"Does anyone else feel like there's something...really, really convenient about that?" Scarlet asked. He was answered with a unanimous 'yes.' Including Ren and Nora.

"So...should we get going now or-"

"This feels wrong," Sage said. "I don't like any of this. If I didn't know any better, this could be a trap. Gods, it probably is!"

"What, you think a member of the White Fang has a Semblance which lets them...turn into a crow and...okay, I see your point."

Once Sun had finished speaking, becoming contemplative, Neptune spoke up. "One of the White Fang knows who I am," he said.

"Yeah, he said you were the son of Admiral Vasilias?" Nora asked.

However, Sun was taken aback. "Wait, seriously? How?!"

"Probably because the Vasilias family is known for having naturally blue hair," Neptune pointed out.

"I heard of Admiral Poseidon Vasilias," Ren spoke up, "didn't he-"

"I'd rather not talk about my dad."

Ren blinked, before respectfully nodding.

"Back on topic," Sun said, giving Ren a small smirk, "if the White Fang did set up a trap, I doubt it'd be at the Belladonna castle. Adam Taurus made it very clear he wants no one trespassing on it, right?"

"Tell me that didn't slip your mind when you came up with this hairbrained scheme?!"

"Nope," Sun answered Sage, grinning, "because I already have a way to deal with that."

The green-haired boy facepalmed, groaning before speaking through gritted teeth. "Which is..."

"The dungeons. We'll hide in the dungeons," Sun answered.

Sage blinked. "Okay, that might work." Nobody would think to look there. It was too obvious.

"Hellooo?" Nora said cheerfully. "Aren't we forgetting something?"

"Pardon me for saying this, but this is kind of a private conversation," Sun deadpanned.

Nora just ignored him. "Nobody even goes to the Belladonna castle!"

"Except Adam, so he can pay tribute to the memory of princess Blake," Scarlet quipped. "I overheard some people saying that, if the fighting with the Branwens lasted any longer, he wouldn't be able to."

"Why are you mentioning this just now?!" Sun hissed.

"Because I didn't think I would need to!"

"You absolutely do," Sage sighed, "and already should have."

"But Adam wouldn't look in the dungeons," Sun reasoned, "and there's no way the White Fang would set a trap here."

"It might not have been them."

Sage's words hung over everyone present like a shroud. No one was sure how to answer that. Finally, Sun did.

"Do you have a better idea?"

Sage narrowed his eyes, rested his chin against his hand, then sighed. "No. You and Neptune need to go right now."

"What about us?" Nora asked.

"You can stay here until we get back," Sun said instantly. "Two people might be able to remain undetected in that place for a while, but I doubt four would." Ren smiled in thanks.

"Sage, Scarlet," Sun continued, "watch out for them, okay?"

Scarlet nodded.

"But before we leave," Sun said, holding up one finger, "one question." He turned and pointed at the large sword leaning against the corner. "Where did that come from?"

Sage rolled his eyes. "Scarlet's idea."

After both teens had packed their essentials, it was time for farewells.

The four thieves assembled in the living room. They stood across from each other in pairs, Neptune and Sun on one side, Sage and Scarlet on the other.

"So," Sage said, "remember: the forest is crawling with Grimm."

"Supposedly," Sun pointed out.

"Right," Sage nodded. "But still, take care. We'll try and make sure everyone," he paused and glanced toward the two new arrivals, "keeps a low profile."

"You won't try," Sun said cheerfully, "you will, Sage."

He smiled and embraced Sun in a mutual hug. Neptune and Scarlet did the same.

Leaving through the back door, Neptune and Sun waved goodbye before turning around and disappearing into the dark caverns of the forest.

"Think they'll be okay?" Scarlet asked nervously.

"Of course," Sage answered.

"Hey Sun," Neptune said, map held firmly in his hands, "remember that book Sage was reading today?"

"No, Neptune, we aren't going to run into a monstrous beast which is actually the dead princess."

"Okay, but..." Neptune went on, "what if there are Grimm in the castle?"

"We've dealt with Grimm before. Besides, if Adam does visit the castle and come back safe and sound every time, so can we."

The boys made ideal chitchat for the rest of the trip, occasionally looking to the map to make sure they were going the right way. The trail in question zig-zagged across hills, by rivers, and around steep cliffs, with said rivers roaring at the bottom. Every now and then, they'd stop and have a quick snack break. The sun was just beginning to set when Sun stopped, motioning for Neptune to do the same.

"What is it?" he asked. Sun pointed upwards. Just beyond the treetops, the pointed, majestic roof of a castle was poking its head out.

Sun turned to his friend, and they exchanged a smile of satisfaction.

"We've made it," Sun said triumphantly.

The wind had carried their scent to her. She inhaled it deeply, and her amber eyes flashed open instantly. She shifted, lazily stalking across the scratched and ruin carpet to her balcony.

Her thin, pointed ears twitched when she heard them. Two boys, and from their scent, a human and Faunus. They were laughing and jumping for joy, racing each other to see who could make it to the gate first. Her eyes focused on them when they came into view, and she snorted.

Intruders. In her castle? She'd thought Adam made sure no one would intrude here without her permission.

When the Faunus boy, a monkey with light blond hair and tail, began climbing over the gate, she darted away from the balcony and into the hall, growling. She was the Queen of Menagerie, even in this cursed body. They would learn that, dearly.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: This might sound a little strange, but if anyone here could make fanart of Blake as the Beast, subscribing to the design I will share in this chapter, I'd very much like that. I need some kind of cover image for this aside from a green dragon I'm using on FF.Net. Also, once this is finished, I intend to rewrite the story heavily.

A small cloud of dirt and gravel was kicked up when Sun jumped off the gate and onto the ground. He stood up straight and surveyed the castle grounds, taking in the view. It was dominated entirely by the Belladonna Palace, a magnificent castle and wonder of the world. Or at least, it would have been in its prime. Now, it was little more than a decomposing corpse. Several windows were broken, there were cracks in the walls and at least one tower seemed about to collapse.

"Hey," Neptune said, panting as he began climbing, "mind giving me a helping hand?" His foot slipped against part of the gate, making him shriek and pushing his full weight against it.

Sun reached up and grabbed the latch, pulling it up and letting the gate swing open. Neptune stared blankly forward for a brief moment, then hopped off. "Thanks."

"No problem." Sun made sure the gate was latched and closed behind them. As the two friends gingerly began walking, Sun taking the lead, Neptune couldn't help looking around, impressed. Even in a state of disrepair, he could keenly see the amount of dedication it had taken to create it. I reminded him of the palaces he used to visit back in Mistral, though it wasn't as expansive. The architecture was similar, with a roof made from black tiles and several turrets connected to the main building. The fact it was crumbling made it seem like something out of a fairy tale - which, in turn, reminded him of Sage's story. Within the courtyard, there was a massive garden, filled with hedges cut into vague shapes resembling mainly big cats that...if Neptune didn't know any better, he'd swear that someone had been trimming them. They were way too well defined.

"Hey, look," Neptune said, pointing to the side.

"What is it?" Sun asked, following his gaze. Neptune didn't answer. Instead, he rushed off the trail and into the garden. "Hey, wait!" Sun cried as he followed after, hefting his pack in one hand.

When Neptune stopped, he was in the middle of a gazebo. Several rose bushes were climbing up and around it. Roses of every color were in full bloom, from red to white to yellow to black. Neptune had narrowed his eyes, staring at each one intently, along with the vines and brambles.

"Dude, are you seriously stopping to smell the flowers?" Sun asked when he caught up to him.

"Look," Neptune said, point to the bushes, "it's been trimmed."

Sun blinked and peered closely, searching for every little detail. What he did notice surprised him.

"You're right," he said softly. He leaned back, stunned. There were clearly several small cuts along the bush, keeping it neat and tidy.

"Nobody's supposed to live here, right?"

"As far as I know, Neptune," Sun answered, thinking. Then he brightened. "But now I'm sure this isn't a trap."

"How?"

"Because why set up a trap but also take the time to trim this rose bush? Seems kind of stupid."

"So who's been cutting the roses?"

"Uh...maybe Adam?"

Neptune answered by shrugging his shoulders. He turned away from Sun and scanned the windows intently, gulping.

"Do you feel like someone's watching us?"

Sun just laughed, trying to play it off as Neptune being ridiculous. "Please, you're just a bit paranoid." He hoped his own anxiety wasn't showing. "Let's just go inside."

The entrance was a pair of massive black doors, with a pair of snarling lion heads made of gold on each one, each holding a knocker in their mouths.

"You gonna knock or should I?" Neptune asked. Sun rolled his eyes, then laid a hand on the door, pushing hard. When it didn't budge, he took a step back, brace himself then threw his shoulder against it, grunting. Still, the door held.

"Trying pulling," Neptune offered. Sun gave him a small glare before firmly placing both hands on a door knocker, setting down his pack. No matter how much he strained and grunted, the door simply wouldn't move. Sun released it, groaning.

"Locked," he said. "We'll have to break a window or something."

"Maybe there's another entrance? Like, the stables?"

"Yeah, that might work." Picking his pack up, he gestured with his head. "Let's not waste time waiting."

The boys had barely taken a few steps away when they froze at exactly the same time.

The sound of the door being unlocked was unmistakable. Then slowly turned around to face it, and remained as stiff as boards.

Right before their eyes, one of the doors that had stubbornly remained shut was being slowly pulled inwards, revealing the dark interior of the castle.

They made eye contact, faces blank and muscles stiff, the same idea on both of the minds. Neptune was the one to voice it. "This castle's totally haunted."

Sun sighed. "No way, it's probably some hermit letting us in."

Neptune turned to the door. "Any hermits living inside the big, abandoned castle?"

No answer.

Sun lightly hit him on the back of the head. "Dude!" he said in a harsh whisper. "Keep it down!"

Neptune glared at him. "Somebody opened that door for us, Sun."

"Maybe it just opened by itself. Let's just go inside, stay for a week, then we'll book it!"

"Doors don't unlock by themselves!" Neptune hissed through clenched teeth.

"It's an old door, maybe it's broken and I opened it accidentally," Sun hissed back. He turned to the door, clenched his fist firmly, and, straightening himself, confidently walked inside, pushing the open door open all the way.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Neptune muttered as he followed after.

Sun was clearly in the main hall of the castle. It was massive, with several pillars supporting the balcony directly above him. In front was a large stairway leading upwards which stopped at a platform, which had two, smaller sets of stairs leading to opposite wings of the castle.

He whistled. "Nice place," he said admiringly.

"Okay, it's big and fancy, sure, can we please find somewhere to hide now?"

"Relax, Neptune, the dungeons are probably..." Sun paused and began looking around, sweeping his gaze over every inch of the hall.

"Let's split up," Sun said.

"No," Neptune said.

"Neptune, stop. Just listen to me, okay? You have training from your dad, and I was trained you trained me. If we run into any trouble, I'm sure we can both deal with it."

"Sun-"

The monkey Faunus sighed. "Neptune, okay, I know. Things have been really weird today, but we need to find somewhere in this place to hide. Like I said, we'll only stay a week then leave."

"What if we have to stay longer than a week?"

Sun paused, then shrugged. "We'll do that. We'll stay here as long as we need to, but we'll be perfectly fine."

"Although," Neptune said, "I just had a thought. What if the Grimm get in here?"

"They didn't give us any trouble on the way here, I doubt they'll come after us. But," Sun stopped, looked around again, then spotted an overturned chair. He bent down, grabbed a leg and started tugging on it. It took some effort, but he was able to rip it off. He turned around, holding it out to Neptune.

"Uh," Neptune remarked. "That's a poorly made chair."

"Or I'm just really strong?" Sun joked.

Neptune sighed, rubbed the bridge of his nose, then, resigned, nodded. "Fine, we can split up. But don't go somewhere which might be dangerous." He took the chair leg, testing its weight and giving it a few swings. It wasn't the trident his dad had made him, but it would do.

"Okay, so we will meet back here in about two hours. Sound good?"

"And if one of us should end up in trouble?"

"Just yell, dude. You've got a very distinctive yell."

"At least mine doesn't sound like a girl's," Neptune retorted with a wink.

"No, it sounds like a Banshee Grimm who stubbed her toe."

Both boys burst out laughing instantly, Neptune patting Sun on the back with his free hand. Once they settled down, he straightened and sighed. "Okay, how about we meet back in an hour and a half instead?"

Sun thought about it, then shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

"Okay, but what if I find the dungeons?"

"Come back here, and either call or wait for me to get back, then lead the way."

Neptune shrugged. "Okay, so...I'll go right, you go left?"

"Sure, but Neptune," Sun placed a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder, "stay safe."

"I will," he answered.

The two parted ways without another word, Sun taking out Jingu Bang, just in case. Neptune was on alert, eyes scanning the hallway for any signs of something afoot before taking slow, cautious steps. In a few moments, the hallway split in two at an angle. Neptune pondered this for a few moments before taking the new route, deeper into the castle.

The main hall was quiet with the intruders gone, the echoes of their footsteps fading away. Everything was completely still. Then, from the interior balcony, came a soft, low growl. A large, hulking figure softly tread up onto the railings, her weight perfectly balanced thanks to years of practice. Her massive, tufted ears flickered, listening intently. Then, she gracefully began stalking along the banister before jumping down, landing on all fours. Snarling, she first looked left, then right. Her prey had split up. Very well then. Now, who should she go after first?

After barely a moment's thought, she went right.

"So," Sun muttered, "this must be the dining room." And it was in remarkable condition. Come to think of it, the entire castle seemed far better kept than he would have expected, given it was abandoned for three years.

The table had a shine to it almost like it had recently been polished. He could see a few fragments of dust here and there, but it was mainly around the edges, and practically insignificant. But there was no way someone could actually have polished the thing. Nobody lived here anymore.

That's what he told himself, anyway.

He did note, however, there was a plate with silverware on either side of it. "Odd..." he muttered, walking over and picking up the utensils. He inspected first the fork, then the spoon, then the knife, then the smaller spoon, fork, and knife. The plate itself, when he picked it up, was perfectly clean, devoid of a single speck of dust or grime. In the poor light, he could actually see himself in the reflection.

He shook his head, unsure what to make of any of this. Why would someone set up a place at the table with utensils and a perfectly clean plate but with no chair either, on top of in a place like this?

There he heard something shatter, and he jumped up, pulling out the other nunchuck. He focused on a door leading right on the other side of the room, where he had clearly heard something break.

Sun leaped up, first on the table then landing on the ground, and began cautiously walking toward it. Nothing seemed to be happening at the moment. At least, nothing he could hear.

Without warning, Sun burst in through the door, kicking it open with his foot. But he could never have expected what was on the other side.

It was the kitchen, obviously, and a China plate lay in pieces on the ground. But what really caught him by surprise were the statues.

There were two of them, one female, the other male. They were separated by a large kitchen table, stacked with several pristine china dishes. The girl was wearing a cooking apron over her dress, and was evidently a rabbit Faunus, judging from the tall rabbit ears popping up from her head. Her face was caught in perpetual surprise, eyes wide and mouth gaping as she stared down at the shattered plate on the ground, hands held up to her chest.

The boy was human and much larger than the girl. His hair was combed back, and he was broad-shouldered, with a massive scowl on his face directed at the girl. He too wore a kitchen apron, though it was less puffy than the girl's. His hands were held out in front of him, and he honestly seemed like he was about to explode and really let have it.

Sun stepped closer, bemused beyond belief, and began inspecting the girl, given she was the closer of the two. She was made of perfectly carved white stone, without a single blemish of any kind, almost like she had been carved that very day. He felt along her face, ears, body, and shoulders. It was all smooth. There was no sign she'd been moved here either, like a scrap on the floor. He did the same to the boy as well and found exactly the same.

"Weird," he muttered, wondering where they had come from. He then began searching through the kitchen itself, wondering if there was anything of note. Aside from the silverware, plates, and even the stove being in remarkably good condition, there wasn't much. Heck, the stove itself was still warm. Not enough to burn but still noticeable. He opened every compartment and was amazed by how clean the inside was as well. Was Adam actually cleaning the entire castle himself every time he visited?

Sun chuckled. That was certainly an amusing thought. Then he noticed the bag of coals next to the stove and smirked. Once he was done drawing on both, he set it down in the Faunus girl's hand, then left, letting the kitchen door swing closed behind him as he whistled a merry tune.

It was only when they were sure he was gone that one of the statues spoke to the other.

"Velvet," the boy said in a harsh whisper, "you're cleaning up this mess." He pointed to his face as he said that, glaring angrily through a pair of large black spectacles.

"Cardin," Velvet said softly, "did you see that?"

"Saw it? It just drew on us both! I'm never trusting you with putting away the dishes-"

"Someone's in the castle!"

Cardin blinked, then his face went pale as the blood drained from it. "Oh."

Velvet dropped the coal on the ground, wiping her dirty hand on her apron as she rushed to the door, peeking her head into the empty dining room.

"What are you doing?!" Cardin hissed, quickly rushing up behind her.

"We have to follow him, see what he's up to. Besides, he took one of the forks!"

Cardin raised a hand to his face, then stopped. "First, wipe the coal off my face."

"Do it yourself!" And with that, Velvet raced into the dining room on her tiptoes.

Cardin groaned, grabbed the wet cloth he had been using to wipe off the table before following after the dumb bunny.

Neptune wasn't sure which part of the castle this was but had long since exchanged the chair leg club for a halberd which had formerly been in the possession of a suit of armor, one of several used as decoration in this particular hallway. Said suit of armor was now in a pile on the floor, but he was sure no one would care much about that.

Except for whoever had opened the door for them. Despite Sun's reassurances, Neptune was still convinced someone had to be living here. Those roses had been freshly trimmed, and roses don't trim themselves. Even if some picture books said otherwise.

Neptune gently placed his foot down and cringed when the floor creaked. Loudly. His eyes moved first to the left, then the right, expecting for someone to pop out and sock him. He sighed in relief when they didn't. Not that it alleviated his feelings of being watched.

A clatter of metal made him go as stiff as a board. He spun around, halberd raised for action, but there was no one there. Another suit of armor now lay in a pile, though, next to a lumpy red curtain. And Neptune knew for a fact he hadn't done that. Slowly, he turned back around, then was off like a shot, halberd clutched tightly to his chest.

A boy with blond hair suddenly peaked out from behind the curtain. His blue eyes stared intently after Neptune's fleeting form, and his face became grim.

No way Jaune Arc was letting some blue-haired crook hurt Princess Weiss. He came out from behind the curtain, raising his sword as he prepared to go after them.

"Jaune," a deep voice growled. All at once, the young squire tensed up. He remained completely still as a large mass approached him from behind, snorting. When she stopped, they were standing right next to him at full height. Ever since the Enchantress cursed them all, he couldn't help being intimidated by the Queen, no matter what Pyrrha said.

"I'll handle this one. There's another on the other side of the castle, a monkey Faunus. Deal with him," she said, before bounding past him on all fours, brown, shaggy cape billowing behind her.

"Yes, Your Majesty," he said quietly. Then he turned around, sulking, and went to find this monkey.

Meanwhile, Neptune's flight wasn't going anywhere in particular. Okay, so, now he was absolutely sure someone else was in the castle and stalking him. By going in random directions, he hoped to throw them off track. He knew there was a chance of getting lost, but it was worth it. Besides, it would be easy to find his way out.

Still, he was beginning to feel a bit tired. He'd have to stop sometime and catch his breath. When he saw an open double door, he didn't hesitate to race past them, then turned around, slamming the doors shut. Panting, Neptune leaned his forehead against them, took a deep breath, halberd still clutched in his hands tightly, then sighed. No way the person or persons chasing him wouldn't think to open these doors and check for him, but he already had a plan for that. Well, the beginning of one.

First things first, though. He needed to find Sun, explain that someone else was in here with them, get out, and never look back. Then they would have to tell Sage, Scarlet, Ren, and Nora what happened and that they probably should just leave Menagerie altogether, stowing away on the first ship out of here.

Actually, no, no water, they should just hijack an airship. If Menagerie had any, to begin with...

Still pondering how they could escape this place, Neptune lifted his head off the door and turned around, ideally checking what kind of room he was in.

His mouth dropped open when he realized he was in a massive, circular ballroom. The ceiling stretched and curved upwards to make a dome, a chandelier made from thousands of glass droplets dangling from the center. A mural of Menagerie itself, surrounding by a glistening blue ocean which Neptune avoided looking at for too long, had been painted on it with the utmost care and attention. On the other side were several glass doors leading to a balcony, where he could see the stars sparkling in the night sky. Well, at least he had a way out. But he only momentarily dwelled on that, instead enraptured by the sheer detail and beauty surrounding him.

The ballroom was utterly bare of things like tables, chairs, and even paintings, save for a single, white piano directly beside another door which was slightly ajar. Neptune almost didn't pay it much attention until he saw a flash of white move on the other side. He blinked, stunned.

"Hello?" he whispered while taking small steps toward it. "Is someone there?"

No answer. Just like happened when the main entrance had been unlocked.

Part of Neptune knew he should just sprint for the balcony and take his chances climbing down it. But the other really wanted to know who - or what - was behind that door. And, unfortunately, the latter won out.

Neptune used his foot to gently push the door open all the way, eyes narrowed in anticipation. Beyond it was another hallway, this one curving around alongside the ballroom. Neptune peeked his head, and almost drew it back when he saw the statue of a girl...that seemed very familiar.

"Uh," he said, "where this come from?" He gingerly stepped over the threshold and into the hallway. He walked around the statue with a critical eye, but couldn't help raising a brow at the craftsmanship.

The girl was wearing a dress that he would expect for a formal occasion, like, well, a ball. She had her hands clasped together as daintily as a princess, or at least what Neptune would expect from one. The dress itself, despite being made of stone, seemed to glitter and had a large, blue sapphire placed right in the middle of the sweetheart neckline. He imagined there were probably several smaller stones scattered in the rock, making it glitter. "Neat," he mused. As for the girl herself, her hair had been braided into a long ponytail that reached her knees, and her face was...actually kind of cute. Even if her eyes were firmly closed and her lips just a pair of small, closed lines, there was no denying that, if real, she'd been a very attractive girl. He knew he'd seen her somewhere before, but couldn't figure out where.

Even though he was acutely aware someone was hunting him, Neptune couldn't help smirking. Statues always did make the best practice when it came to flirting.

"Well hello there," he said smoothly, trying to pretend this wasn't a block of stone he was talking to, "what's your name, beautiful? Oh, shy? Allow me - I'm Neptune. Neptune Vasilias. And you are?" He paused, imagining she was stuttering out her own, on the verge of fainting. "A beautiful name for a beautiful angel like you. Oh yeah, I don't think I mentioned this but...I'm starting to like you." He finished off with a smirk and a wink, holding out his hand as if she would take it.

Then her cheeks started to turn a faint shade of pink. Neptune blinked, leaned forward until he was right in her face, then lifted a finger and pressed it against the pink blush. It was...warm.

Then her eyes snapped open, revealing an icy shade of blue that stared right back at him.

Neptune jumped back with a scream, halberd clattering the ground as he fell on his butt. The girl that was made of stone started to change before his very eyes, her dress now turning into blue fabric while her skin became...not stone. Both her hands had shot up to her mouth in shock while she leaned back, looking first at him then the halberd then back to him.

"What the- what-" Neptune sputtered, pointing at her, "who the heck are you?! What are you?!"

After he finished speaking, the girl's expression changed. Now she scowled at him, hands clenched at her sides. If she was trying to be intimidating, the blush still faintly visible on her cheeks ruined it. "Neptune Vasilias," she said slowly, "it's been a long time."

Neptune blinked. What the heck did she - wait.

No. NO.

"Princess Weiss?" he breathed. "You're...not dead?"

Princess Weiss Schnee, the girl he had played kissing with at a ball while hiding under a table from their parents, opened her mouth to speak but never got the chance. A low, threatening growl from down the hall made both of them freeze.

Both teens turned to find a massive creature staring at them coldly, crouching low to the ground. It's gaze shifted solely to Neptune, glanced briefly behind him, then back to Neptune. Its eyes were a dark amber color, with two black vertical slits for pupils.

The creature slowly began stalking forwards on all fours, snarling. "Weiss," they said in a low, husky but undeniably feminine voice, "do you know this person?"

"Blake, listen, I know how this looks-"

"Blake?!" Neptune exclaimed, cutting off once thought dead girl. "As in Princess Blake Belladonna?! But I thought she...no way, Sage's book was right..."

"What?!" The creature, Blake, hissed, quickening her pace, "What did you say!?"

Neptune swallowed, shaking like he was about to jump out of his skin. "The b-book he - Sage - found...the one which said you were...turned into...a monstrous beast-"

"What book!" Blake growled, then she bounded forward with stunning speed. Neptune feebly held up his arm in front of him, other hand trying to grab the halberd in vain. He could hear Weiss's frantic pleas, but they didn't matter. Only the ferocious, looming form of Blake Belladonna did.

"WHAT. BOOK?!"

When Sun heard the roaring he jumped instantly, turning towards it. When he heard Neptune's high pitched scream afterward, his heart almost froze. "Oh shit!" he cursed, before breaking into a sprint.

There were Creatures of Grimm in this castle, and one of them had found Neptune! Shit, shit, shit, shit-

Velvet and Cardin ducked back behind a pillar as Sun ran past them, holding both nunchucks firmly. They watched him go, Velvet's ears drooping.

"Two people are in the castle," Cardin muttered, "this guy and whoever just screamed like a Banshee Grimm."

"And Blake found the latter," Velvet said sadly. "Poor guy..."

"Come on, let's follow him," Cardin said, cracking his knuckles.

"Hold on, we're not actually going to attack him? We're a pair of unarmed cooks!"

"Better we have some excuse as for why we didn't do anything than deal with the queen's temper tantrum. Now come on, you dumb rabbit."

Velvet sighed, then began undoing her apron, folding it neatly before placing it on a nearby table.

"What are you doing?" Cardin asked, bemused.

"I don't want to get my apron ruined."

"Is that really the most pressing concern right now?!"

"For cooks like us? Yes!"

Cardin snorted, shaking his head before he began walking - back to the kitchens. "I'm getting my mace..."

"Oh!" Velvet said suddenly. "That reminds me!"

The moment the bunny said that Cardin froze. "Velvet," he growled, "where'd you put it this time?!"

As the two sort-of friends prepared for another verbal slap fest, Sun had already reached the main hall. He was already following Neptune's theoretical footsteps when he ran into a blond boy wearing black armor, carrying a sword and shield with two yellow crescents, a smaller one inside the other, trotting at a brisk pace. The moment they made eye contact, all movement ceased.

Jaune quickly got into position, holding his shield in front of him while raising his sword above his head. Sun recognized it as a defensive posture instantly.

"By the order of Her Royal Highness, Queen Blake Belladonn-AH!" Jaune wasn't able to finish speaking when Sun jumped forward somersaulting in the air before kicking out with his foot, smashing aside the shield before sending a sharp kick at Jaune's head. He needed only a second to lean back, releasing his grip on the shield as well while swiftly moving the flat of his blade to intercept the kick.

Sun raised a brow when his foot landed on the blade's surface. He had been aiming for an unexpected assault to knock the daylights out of this kid, instead - wait, did he just say Queen Blake?!

He couldn't continue that line of thought as he stumbled in mid-air, almost landing on his back. However, being a monkey Faunus, flexibility came naturally to him. Gripping all four rods of the nunchucks in his hands, he arched his back and slammed his knuckles onto the floor, balancing himself expertly so that he could angle the rest of himself away from the blond. Landing on his feet, Sun once again made eye contact. And he looked pretty damn angry.

"Uh," Jaune said, brows raised. In his training with Pyrrha, he'd seen some impressive stuff, like when she tossed Cardin around like a ragdoll, but for a simple thief to pull off such a complex move effortlessly...

Before Jaune could think any further, Sun was already making another attack. This time, he was aiming for a flanking maneuver, kicking his foot against the shield. Jaune was driven back but quickly planted his foot down and held firm, keeping his shield up. Sun was already swinging the nunchucks in dazzling arcs, aiming for his arms. His armor and Aura managed to absorb most of the impacts that his shield missed, but that didn't mean it wasn't painful. Another sharp smack against his elbow made him grit his teeth and lash with a quick jab of the sword. It would have been a non-lethal wound, just a small cut. However, his opponent managed to dodge it and kicked himself backward, giving both combatants some space.

It had only been a short clash, but Sun now could tell a fair bit about this kid. Nunchucks weren't the best weapons against someone with armor and activated Aura. He'd tried going for the joints, but that hadn't worked. And while a few good blows to the head might do some damage, he worried it would be too much. He'd probably need to use hand-to-hand combat now, get around the shield and trip him up, kick away the sword and just knock him out. He could ask about Queen Blake later. Right now, he had to save Neptune.

Jaune, meanwhile, had noted the intruder's speed and agility. Even though he had been on the defensive for most of that brief clash, he felt some measure of pride at having put Pyrrha's training to good use. When he saw the monkey stuffing away his nunchucks, he furrowed his brow, then, with a yell, charged.

Sun was briefly caught off guard when the kid pushed forward, aiming to ram him with his shield. He rolled out of the way and then, using the palms of his hands as balance, swept Jaune's legs out from under him with one, precise blow. Jaune, however, wasn't about to go down so easily. As he fell to the ground, he planted the bottom of his shield down firmly, stopping his fall. On his knees, he swung his free arm upwards, using the elbow to block an obvious attack. Sun hadn't expected such a fast recovery, nor the expert block of his punch, and grunted as Jaune's armor connected with his knuckles. He drew back his fist as he kicked Jaune in the back, hard.

Jaune grunted, trying to get back on his feet. However, Sun wasn't about to let him. The monkey Faunus jumped on his back, pushing him to the ground and raising his hands, ready to deliver a brutal beating. The only reason he didn't was that there were rapidly approaching footsteps from behind him.

"Jaune!"

Sun only had a few moments to turn around before a girl with deep red hair delivered a nasty flying kick to his face. He was sent flying, bouncing across the floor a few times as he tried to regain his bearings. The new girl, however, didn't let him. He was trying to get back on his feet when he was again kicked in the face then tackled to the ground. The last thing he saw was a pair of burning green eyes before he was pummeled into unconsciousness.

Jaune frowned, groaning as he got up. "I had that, Pyrrha," he mumbled.

"No, Jaune," replied his mentor, "it didn't look like it." She turned to face him, her face stern.

"Why didn't you use your sword?" she asked.

"I was trying to - but I couldn't just kill him." Jaune gestured to the unconscious monkey Faunus in question.

"I see," the invincible girl mused. "I've never yet trained you on how to fight non-lethally with a sword. I'm sorry and will rectify that tomorrow. But first, this miscreant needs to be taken to the dungeons."

"What happened to the other guy? The one who went to Weiss's part of the castle?!"

"Jaune, Weiss is fine. The queen's already captured him."

He breathed a sigh of relief, then he had another, alarming thought. "What if this guy" - he gestured to the monkey boy - "hurt anyone else?!"

"He didn't," came the voice of Jaune's former bully. He turned and found both Cardin and Velvet had arrived, slightly out of breath. Cardin was carrying his mace while Velvet had a simple broom for protection. "Took one of our forks though. Mind checking him for that?"

Pyrrha held out a hand, palm open above Sun's prone form, then nodded. "Found it," she said. Sure enough, the fork zipped out of his pant pocket and into her hand. She then levitated it over to Cardin, who snatched it out of the air.

"Show off," he mumbled, but Pyrrha didn't pay any attention. Instead, she was hefting the unconscious Faunus up and onto her shoulder, placing one of his arms over them. Jaune didn't need to be told to take the other.

"You taking him to the dungeon?" Velvet asked.

"Yes, why do you ask?" Pyrrha answered, raising a brow.

"I'm just...a bit worried. What'll happen to him?"

The tension that came from Velvet's words stung deep into all three of her friends. No one wanted to say the obvious until Pyrrha finally did.

"That'll be for the Queen to decide."

When Sun woke up, all he saw at first was darkness. He blinked away his exhaustion as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. He tried to rub his eyes, but when he moved his hands he felt something harsh and cold holding them in place, accompanied by the rattling of chains. A quick glance upwards showed him that yes, his wrists were now bound above his head by a set of shackles attached to the wall. He looked around briefly, then his eyes fell on a door, one with a small window that had bars instead of glass in it. Light, probably from torches, streamed in from the other side.

I'm in a dungeon, he realized, before sighing. "Well, at least I found it."

"Sun?"

He instantly perked at the mention of his name. "Neptune? Neptune, buddy, where are you?"

"Probably in the cell next to yours," he called back, voice echoing through the stone walls. Then he chuckled. "Now we're finally in the dungeons, uh? We just had to get captured by the beast and her servants and boom! Mission accomplished."

"Hey, don't blame me for this mess. You really thought I would have expected for people to be living here?!"

"I wasn't," Neptune answered sadly. Sun couldn't see his face, but he imagined the poor guy was sulking. He was about to shut up when he realized what else Neptune had said.

"Wait," he began, speaking slowly, "what beast?"

Then he heard a loud, heavy thud, followed by a low growl. Sun felt his gut clench as several more deep thuds followed, each one coming closer to his own cell before they stopped. A rattling which he instantly realized were keys shortly ensued before whatever was on the other side grunted and shoved one into the keyhole.

"Your Majesty," said a girl's voice, "are you sure you need to do this?"

"Yes," something snarled back. Then the door was unlocked and pulled open.

Sun had wondered why he hadn't seen anyone on the other side of the bars. Now, he knew why.

Crouching low to the ground was a massive, hulking cat-like beast, wearing a large brown cape and a brown shirt which seemed to hang off the body in places and clearly had a few holes, matching the pants. It was covered in shaggy black fur, which contrasted sharply with the amber eyes glaring at him. Two ears stood straight up on the head, but the most worrying feature was two long, curving saber-teeth jutting from the upper jaw, each one gleaming in the torchlight.

It took Sun a few moments to realize Sage's stupid book hadn't been full of shit.

"Blake," he breathed, "you're princess Blake Belladonna."

The next thing he knew, she was directly in front of him, towering ominously. He could feel her hot, rancid breath against his skin and winced each time.

"No," she growled out threateningly, "I am Queen Blake Belladonna of Menagerie. Who are you?"

"Sun," he answered instantly, "Sun Wukong. Best thief in the world."

Blake snorted. "So," she growled out slowly, "the son of the famous Admiral Poseidon Vasailias and the 'prince of thieves' break into my castle...why?"

Sun would have snapped at her at that moment about how the White Fang had almost killed two innocent beggars and he'd rescued them both, then tried to hide here to escape retribution, but he didn't. Instead, he asked something else entirely, in a small, quiet voice.

"What did you call me?"

He saw her raise an eyebrow, before snorting. "You seriously don't think I wouldn't know who your father is?"

Rather than scream or shout or curse about his father, Sun just sighed and leaned back against the stone wall, tall laying uselessly on the floor. "I'd been hoping for that," he said in a whisper.

"He sent you here," Blake hissed, "didn't he?"

"Sent me?" Sun scoffed. "Guy probably doesn't even know if I'm alive or dead."

"Is this supposed to be some kind of joke-"

"YOU THINK?!"

Sun's outburst was short and blunt. Normally, he would have expected to be clawed alive for it. He was dealing with a monstrous beast which had once been a princess, what else could happen? And now dear old dad had been brought into all this...

Then Blake the Beast drew back and...it seemed like her face...softened. She wasn't glaring at him anymore, which was nice, but he still didn't think she'd let him go any time soon.

"Hmm...interesting..." she mused. "I already know why you're here and find it a likely story at best. However, there is a more pressing matter. Apparently, a friend of yours, one Sage Ayana -"

"Has a book about you being turned into a beast? Yeah, he does. I don't know who wrote it, he just found it lying on a park bench in Mistral, and I was going to throw it out because it's stupid."

"I'd very much like to have this book," she hissed, agitated at the interruption. "And either you or your friend is going to get it for me. However, I cannot allow your intrusion to go unpunished. Therefore, I have decided one of you shall remain here - for life."

"I'll stay," Sun said instantly.

It wasn't just that he spoke, but how quickly he had done so which stunned the others.

Blake stared at him as if he were a kind of curiosity. "You would...do that?"

"Yes," Sun said firmly, his mind made up.

"Why?"

"Because he's my friend."

It was at this moment that Neptune suddenly started thrashing in his chains. "NO!" he shrieked. "No, I'll stay! Sun, go on, get out of here! I'll be fine, just go and bring the book back!"

"About that book," Sun continued, seemingly ignoring Neptune's protests, "what happens when Neptune gives it to you?"

"Then he will be locked away here as well," Blake said, eyes narrowed slightly as she observed Sun's reaction. He didn't disappoint.

"Then I won't stay quiet," he said firmly, "I'll scream and shout until my lungs burst. Even after I'm dead, I'll haunt this place until you let him go."

Blake chuckled softly. "Very well then. Let's make a deal. You will stay here in the place of your friend, but you won't be held in this cell. I will give you your own room, feed and clothe you, but you must stay here. Do this, and I will let your friend go free." Then she turned behind her and roared loudly at the neighboring cell. "Provided he comes back with that book!"

Sun waited for a bit until Neptune responded. "Fine," he said softly, his voice barely audible.

When Blake turned back to him, he didn't waste a moment before answering. "Same here."

She lingered for a few moments, observing him closely so that Sun squirmed under her gaze before turning around and stamping out of the cell. When she was outside, she turned to someone just out of sight. "Ready some supplies. The blue-haired one is to be set free tomorrow. And prepare a room for the Faunus." Then she turned around, grabbed the door and slammed it shut firmly, locking it tight. Her heavy footsteps receded away afterward, Sun following straining to listen as best he could. Then he saw a girl's head peek in through the window.

It was the same girl who'd knocked the crap out of him earlier. Her smile was forced but apologetical as she spoke awkwardly. "I'm sorry for your current predicament, but you did break into the castle." Then she disappeared.

"Neptune? Hey, buddy?" Sun called softly. "If you can hear me, don't worry. I'll be fine."

But Neptune didn't answer. Instead, he just sighed, so heavily Sun thought he'd deflated. In a way, he had. As for Sun?

When he'd woken up this morning, he hadn't expected this to be how the day would end. But then again, he hadn't believed in magic or beasts which were actually queens either.

The world's strange like that.


End file.
